[The Trial]
[Ding]
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
[Display of Inner Disciple Status: Yun Du]
[Name: Yun Du]
[Cultivation: 7th Rank Qi Gathering]
[Age: 20 years old]
[Body: None]
[Talent: Low-rank black-level cultivation talent // High-rank yellow-level fire element talent // Low-rank yellow-level sword talent]
[Cultivation Technique: Low-rank black-level technique]
[Martial Skills: 5 yellow-level martial skills, and three Qi Gathering rank techniques]
[Artistic Conception: None (on the verge of understanding semi-fire artistic conception)]
[Luck: Yellow-rank]
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
[Ding, unable to display the status of Lingyun Sect's elder, Xang, due to significant cultivation difference]
[Ding, unable to display the status of Lingyun Sect's elder, Tan, due to significant cultivation difference]
Upon hearing the last two notifications, Jian Ning wasn't surprised. After all, these two elders, Xang and Tan, are the greatest powers of the Lingyun Sect. How could they be weak?
'These two elders should be at least at the 5th level of the Purple Mansion cultivation, given that I can't discern their cultivation,' Jian Ning thought, quickly dismissing the matter.
'Let's focus on the inner disciple's status instead. At only 20 years old, he's already in the upper stage of Qi Gathering, but it's not his talent that makes him special, it's his cultivation technique, which is a black-level technique. Too bad I don't know if he obtained it by luck, if the sect gave it to him, or if he just took it from the martial library of the sect,' Jian Ning pondered while analyzing the status of the disciple named Yun Du.
After a few moments of analysis, Jian Ning grew bored and spent the rest of the time displaying the statuses of all the participants, checking for potential dangers or perhaps someone with great luck among them.
And he was right because he quickly found a person with great luck.
The said person was a stunning girl with a cold air around her, like an ice statue, ethereal and untouchable.
'This girl has such a temperament! There's a high chance she possesses a special body like me!' Jian Ning thought as his eyes fell on the girl while shuttling between the participants.
'Ling, show me the status of the girl,' Jian Ning ordered.
[Ding]
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
[Display of Status]
[Name: Hui Ni]
[Cultivation: 2nd Rank Qi Gathering]
[Age: 15 years old]
[Body: yin ice body "Dormant"]
[Talent: High-rank black-level cultivation talent // High-rank earth-level ice element talent // Low-rank black-level sword talent]
[Cultivation Technique: Low-rank earth-level technique]
[Martial Skills: 5 yellow-level martial skills, and three black-level techniques]
[Artistic Conception: Semi-ice conception]
[Luck: Sky-rank Luck]
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
'As expected of a heroine!' Jian Ning exclaimed, seeing the staggering statistics of the aforementioned Hui Ni.
'I wonder if I can gain luck points from this girl or not!' Jian Ning wondered, smiling at the thought of gaining luck points.
'Although she and I have the same level of luck, this conjecture isn't assured, but she must not be underestimated,' Jian Ning concluded his long contemplation on the chance point gain conjecture.
At this final thought, a beautiful smile appeared on Jian Ning's face, only to quickly vanish, returning to a neutral expression.
'This selection seems to be very promising for me.'
~~ Several minutes later ~~
Jian Ning and the rest of the participants arrived at a large lush forest, with ancient trees everywhere.
In front of what seemed to be the entrance to the forest, there were signs indicating the name of the forest and its danger level.
You're probably wondering why there's a danger warning when this forest is inside the sect?
Actually, the sect only has a part of the forest. It's the part where the trials take place every year. And the rest of the forest belongs to no force, and the power of the beasts inside the forest is significantly greater than in this small part.
Jian Ning barely had time to admire the scenery when Elder Tan spoke up.
"After entering the forest, the first trial will officially begin, and after 3 days, you must all gather here, or your points will not be counted," Elder Tan announced loudly, then fell silent.
He waited until all the participants had digested the information before continuing.
After a few seconds, Elder Xiang spoke up.
He took out a huge hourglass from his spatial ring and placed it on the ground. "The moment I turn over the hourglass, the trial will begin," Elder Xiang announced before walking over to the hourglass and preparing to turn it over.
Whoosh!!
Elder Xiang flipped the enormous hourglass, signaling the start of the trial.
Immediately, all the participants rushed into the forest at incredible speeds.
Some used body techniques, while others simply ran with the strength of their bodies to conserve their energy.
Jian Ning obviously chose the latter option for movement.
After all, with his cultivation lead over the others, even his normal speed far surpasses that of other participants using body martial techniques.
Not to mention his talent for wind and lightning elements, both known for their speed, his lead compared to other participants couldn't be expressed in words.
'The wind and lightning talent truly boosts my speed by several levels! My current speed is comparable to that of a normal 7th Rank Qi Gathering cultivator,' Jian Ning thought inwardly, noting the top speed he could achieve.
'Jian Shi's luck shouldn't be so fast, so I'll just not stray too far from him, and kill beasts at the same time to maximize gains,' Jian Ning thought as he stopped at a tree and looked back.
He could see Jian Shi heading into the forest alone.
Which made sense in itself, after all, with his level of luck, he shouldn't rely on anyone.
'I don't know the extent of Jian Shi's abilities, so I might as well not follow him closely and just observe from afar. Thankfully, with cultivation, vision has become much broader, so looking a kilometer away is no longer impossible,' Jian Ning remarked with some wonder towards the power and abilities he's been able to attain through cultivation.
----------
Slash!
[Ding, congratulations to the host for killing a high 1st Rank monster, comparable to a 9th Rank Tempered Body cultivator, W.E + 90]
After entering the forest, Jian Ning began hunting monsters like all the other participants but still didn't forget to keep an eye on Jian Shi. After all, he had already tasted the power of great luck with the spiritual sword fruit, so he was curious about what luck a "fortunate son" like Jian Shi could have.
After more than three hour of venturing deeper into the forest and hunting, Jian Ning finally found what he was looking for.
'Finally, something special is about to start,' Jian Ning thought as he watched Jian Shi heading straight for a point of great spiritual power.
Although Jian Ning hadn't opened his spiritual sense yet, that didn't mean he couldn't sense powerful auras.
And he could tell without a doubt that a beast no weaker than the one he just killed lay in the direction Jian Shi was headed.
'I hope my gains won't be weak,' he said to himself as a demonic smirk formed on his lips, just before he disappeared from his spot.